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Carpio AJ, Laguna E, Pascual-Rico R, Martínez-Jauregui M, Guerrero-Casado J, Vicente J, Soriguer RC, Acevedo P. The prohibition of recreational hunting of wild ungulates in Spanish National Parks: Challenges and opportunities. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 926:171363. [PMID: 38432372 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
A new regulation has led to the prohibition of recreational hunting on estates located within Spanish National Parks (NPs). Before the ban, eleven NPs in Spain had already reported negative ecological consequences associated with high densities of wild ungulates. The new situation that has occurred after the ban signifies that policies with which to control populations of wild ungulates in NPs, most of which do not have a sufficient natural capacity to regulate populations, depend exclusively on the parks' authorities. The banning of recreational hunting implies a series of social, ecological, economic and logistic challenges. The control of wild ungulate populations in NPs requires: i) the legal basis for culling; ii) social acceptance as regards removing animals and the extractive procedures employed in NPs; iii) the long-term monitoring of wild ungulates and the damages that they cause, and iv) sufficient financial and human resources. A more integrated management and policy plan is, therefore, required, which should be supported by two pillars: i) the sustainability of natural resources and the conservation of functional environments, and ii) providing society with explanations regarding the need to manage wild ungulates. In order to bridge the potential gap between these key pillars, it is important to involve stakeholders in the decision-making processes concerning wild ungulate management. The forthcoming changes in Spanish NPs provide a promising opportunity to make a substantial improvement to wild ungulate management in these protected areas. This management approach could, moreover, serve as an example and be transferred to other protected spaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio J Carpio
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (UCLM-CSIC-JCCM), Ronda Toledo 12, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
| | - Eduardo Laguna
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (UCLM-CSIC-JCCM), Ronda Toledo 12, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
| | - Roberto Pascual-Rico
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (UCLM-CSIC-JCCM), Ronda Toledo 12, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
| | - María Martínez-Jauregui
- National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (INIA), Forest Research Centre (CIFOR), Ctra. de La Coruña km. 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
| | - José Guerrero-Casado
- Departamento de Zoología, Universidad de Córdoba, Edificio Charles Darwin, Campus de Rabanales, 14071, Spain.
| | - Joaquín Vicente
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (UCLM-CSIC-JCCM), Ronda Toledo 12, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
| | - Ramón C Soriguer
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), Av. Américo Vespucio, s.n, E-41092 Sevilla,Spain.
| | - Pelayo Acevedo
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (UCLM-CSIC-JCCM), Ronda Toledo 12, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
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Temporal and Spatial Activity Patterns of Sympatric Wild Ungulates in Qinling Mountains, China. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12131666. [PMID: 35804566 PMCID: PMC9264793 DOI: 10.3390/ani12131666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Information on species’ niche differentiation will contribute to a greater understanding of the mechanisms of coexistence benefitting the conservation and management of ecological communities. The widespread reduction in apex predators and more restricted hunting management has con-tributed to an increase in the abundance of wild ungulates in the Qinling Mountains, presumably resulting in an intensifying interspecific competition pressure. However, the activity patterns of the species in this region are completely unknown due to difficulty in accessing the locations where they occur. Thus, we used camera trapping to systematically investigate spatial and temporal activity patterns of sympatric ungulates in the Qinling Mountains, where top predators are virtually absent. This intensive camera-trap survey elucidated much more detailed studies of spatial and temporal activity patterns in multiple sympatric wild ungulates under natural conditions. Further, our results provided detailed information of the spatial and temporal ecology of ungulate communities in forest ecosystems, which would be a guide to establishing conservation priorities as well as efficient management programs. Abstract Dramatic increases in populations of wild ungulates have brought a new ecological issue in the Qinling mountains. Information on species’ niche differentiation will contribute to a greater understanding of the mechanisms of coexistence, so as to ultimately benefit the conservation and management of ecological communities. In this study, camera trapping was used to investigate spatial and temporal activity patterns of sympatric wild ungulates in the Qinling Mountains of China, where top predators were virtually absent. We obtained 15,584 independent detections of seven wild ungulate species during 93,606 camera-trap days from April 2014 to October 2017. Results showed that (i) the capture rate differed significantly across species, with the capture rate of reeve muntjac being significantly higher than that of other species; (ii) the wild boar had a higher occupancy rates (ψ = 0.888) than other six ungulates, and distance to settlements had a negative relationship with wild boar (β = −0.24 ± 0.17); (iii) the forest musk deer and mainland serow had low spatial overlaps with other five wild ungulates, while spatial overlap indices of any two given pairs of wild ungulates were relatively high; (iv) all wild ungulates species (expect wild boar) were mainly active during crepuscular and diurnal periods, and showed bimodal activity peaks at around 05:00–07:00 and 17:00–19:00; and finally, (v) all wild ungulates showed moderate to high temporal overlaps. The results provided detailed information of the spatial and temporal ecology of wild ungulate communities in forest ecosystems of China, which also would be a guide to establish conservation priorities as well as efficient management programs.
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Bright Ross JG, Peters W, Ossi F, Moorcroft PR, Cordano E, Eccel E, Bianchini F, Ramanzin M, Cagnacci F. Climate change and anthropogenic food manipulation interact in shifting the distribution of a large herbivore at its altitudinal range limit. Sci Rep 2021; 11:7600. [PMID: 33828110 PMCID: PMC8027592 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86720-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Ungulates in alpine ecosystems are constrained by winter harshness through resource limitation and direct mortality from weather extremes. However, little empirical evidence has definitively established how current climate change and other anthropogenic modifications of resource availability affect ungulate winter distribution, especially at their range limits. Here, we used a combination of historical (1997-2002) and contemporary (2012-2015) Eurasian roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) relocation datasets that span changes in snowpack characteristics and two levels of supplemental feeding to compare and forecast probability of space use at the species' altitudinal range limit. Scarcer snow cover in the contemporary period interacted with the augmented feeding site distribution to increase the elevation of winter range limits, and we predict this trend will continue under climate change. Moreover, roe deer have shifted from historically using feeding sites primarily under deep snow conditions to contemporarily using them under a wider range of snow conditions as their availability has increased. Combined with scarcer snow cover during December, January, and April, this trend has reduced inter-annual variability in space use patterns in these months. These spatial responses to climate- and artificial resource-provisioning shifts evidence the importance of these changing factors in shaping large herbivore spatial distribution and, consequently, ecosystem dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julius G Bright Ross
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Wibke Peters
- Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Wildlife Management, Bavarian State Institute of Forestry, Freising, Germany
| | - Federico Ossi
- Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, Italy
- C3A - Centro Agricoltura Alimenti Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Trento, San Michele all'Adige, Italy
| | - Paul R Moorcroft
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Emanuele Cordano
- Rendena100, Engineering and Consultancy sole proprietorship, Tione di Trento, Italy
| | - Emanuele Eccel
- Department of Sustainable Agro-Ecosystems and Bioresources, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, Italy
| | - Filippo Bianchini
- Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, Italy
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology 'Charles Darwin', University of Rome 'La Sapienza', Rome, Italy
| | - Maurizio Ramanzin
- Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Francesca Cagnacci
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, Italy
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Ossi F, Ranc N, Moorcroft P, Bonanni P, Cagnacci F. Ecological and Behavioral Drivers of Supplemental Feeding Use by Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus in a Peri-Urban Context. Animals (Basel) 2020; 10:E2088. [PMID: 33182794 PMCID: PMC7698021 DOI: 10.3390/ani10112088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2020] [Revised: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Winter supplemental feeding of ungulates potentially alters their use of resources and ecological interactions, yet relatively little is known about the patterns of feeding sites use by target populations. We used camera traps to continuously monitor winter and spring feeding site use in a roe deer population living in a peri-urban area in Northern Italy. We combined circular statistics with generalized additive and linear mixed models to analyze the diel and seasonal pattern of roe deer visits to feeding sites, and the behavioral drivers influencing visit duration. Roe deer visits peaked at dawn and dusk, and decreased from winter to spring when vegetation regrows and temperature increases. Roe deer mostly visited feeding sites solitarily; when this was not the case, they stayed longer at the site, especially when conspecifics were eating, but maintained a bimodal diel pattern of visits. These results support an opportunistic use of feeding sites, following seasonal cycles and the roe deer circadian clock. Yet, the attractiveness of these artificial resources has the potential to alter intra-specific relationships, as competition for their use induces gatherings and may extend the contact time between individuals, with potential behavioral and epidemiological consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Ossi
- Centro Agricoltura Alimenti Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Trento, Via Edmund Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
- Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy; (N.R.); (P.B.); (F.C.)
| | - Nathan Ranc
- Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy; (N.R.); (P.B.); (F.C.)
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA;
| | - Paul Moorcroft
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA;
| | - Priscilla Bonanni
- Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy; (N.R.); (P.B.); (F.C.)
- Department of Animal and Human Biology, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Viale dell’Università 32, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Cagnacci
- Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy; (N.R.); (P.B.); (F.C.)
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA;
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Prpić AM, Gančević P, Safner T, Kavčić K, Jerina K, Šprem N. Activity patterns of aoudad (Ammotragus lervia) in a Mediterranean habitat. JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.25225/jvb.20055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ana Marija Prpić
- Department of Fisheries, Apiculture, Wildlife Management and Special Zoology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; e-mail:
| | - Pavao Gančević
- Department of Fisheries, Apiculture, Wildlife Management and Special Zoology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; e-mail:
| | - Toni Safner
- Department of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biometrics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Krešimir Kavčić
- Department of Fisheries, Apiculture, Wildlife Management and Special Zoology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; e-mail:
| | - Klemen Jerina
- Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Nikica Šprem
- Department of Fisheries, Apiculture, Wildlife Management and Special Zoology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; e-mail:
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